Derek Lim <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I must say that Mehta has done some very fine conducting before (try the
>Beethoven 5th pc with Brendel, and some of his Mahler)

And Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> wrote in response:

>I have not tried to steer clear of Maazel or Mehta, but I have no
>recordings of either of them.  I don't think I ever read a complimentary
>review of a Mehta recording, but Maazel has been lauded from some sources
>for his Mahler cycle on Sony.

Zubin Mehta has certainly done some fine, even great, work before.  One
recalls a superb Turandot on Decca/London, in particular.  I think there
were also some fine orchestral recordings in his earlier days with the
LAPO.  But his NYPO recordings were, with very rare exceptions, nothing to
rave about.  And if you ask me, he got things wrong more often that he did
right.  I wonder why Perlman in particular enjoys working with him so much
-- maybe because he delivers the sort of red-blooded, crude, loud, cavalier
backup that ultimately comes off sounding rather blase, but that probably
works anyway with Perlman's brand of in-your-face, fire-eating virtuoso
playing.

To get what I mean, just listen to Mehta in Perahia's Chopin concertos:
for a large part of the score, we hear poetry (from Perahia, of course)
astoundingly contrasted against a most nonchalant, unthinking backdrop.

Of late, or for that matter, for quite a long time already, he's become
more of a star and a shrewd businessman than a great musician of consummate
vision and talent.  He can keep up his guest-conducting stints at the BPO,
but to lead it as music director, I don't think so, unless the BPO feels
that it wants to hire him on the strength of a few good recordings out of
many other bad ones, and doesn't mind autopilot music-making.

Lionel Choi
Singapore
http://www.singnet.com.sg/~lionelc/dummies.html